Page 104 - Merchants and Mandarins China Trade Era

90.

excessive paleness. II They spoke and moved languidly. This

characteristic struck most of the arriving Americans, who were

usually from the northeastern United States, "very unpleasantly"
69
to say the least. But the Americans soon found that, except

during the height of the trading season, everyone tended to

live at a much slower pace at Canton.

One reason for the residents' lethargic behavior was

their small amount of exercise. They not only had few oppor­

tunities for pleasurable exercise but they did nothing in the

way of physical work. Chinese servants took care of all domes­

tic chores. Every establishment, regardless of size, retained

a Comprador, who literally ran the Factory household. Actually

the Hong merchants supplied the Comprador and secured him "in

all that related to good conduct generally, honesty and capa­

bility." In turn the Comprador chose all his "own people"
whose behavior he secured, to staff the Factory establishment.

Besides directing housekeeping duties, the Comprador was also

the Factory "banker, " keeping private accounts for all the

members and paying their personal bills. A merchant could

'' live in Canton for years, and never have occasion to defile
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his fingers with cash.11

Every resident in the Factory also had his private

servant who satisfied all his needs and desires. This servant

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Letter, T.H. Cabot to E. Cabot, Aug. 24, 1834, Samuel
Cabot MSS. Tiffany, The Canton Chinese, p. 235.
70
Hunter, 'Fan Kwae' at Canton, pp. 53-54; Ruschenberger,
Voyage round the World, pp. 394-95.